Friday, November 06, 2009

The Uniform Code of Military Justice - Malik Nadal Hasan

When a young man or woman raises their hand and are sworn into the US Military, they effectively and voluntarily surrender their Constitutional rights. They now belong to the US government, which has its own military constitution. This is known as the UCMJ or Uniform Code of Military Justice.

I was sworn into the United States Air Force November 23, 1970 and verbatim, my oath was this: "I, Gilbert S. Marshall Jr., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

As an 18 year old native son, I took this very seriously and still do to this day. As an 18 year old, even in my naivete state of immaturity and experience, I knew I was suspending my personal views to enforce the will and policies of the US Government, whether I agreed with the policies or not. Our military depends on this subservience. I want to say this again. Our Country’s stability and military depends on this subservience.

Now mind you, I was 18 years old when I raised my right hand and I understood my obligation with uncharacteristic clarity, for a teenager anyway. I was enlisting as an Airman Basic, not accepting a commission as college graduate into the ranks of leadership, which by definition is an officer and a gentleman (woman).

Officers have a different version when sworn in and held to higher standards. This is the oath our shooter took: "I, Malik Nadal Hasan (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God." (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)

Major Malik Nadal Hasan has not only committed premeditated murder on his own soldiers, but voluntarily performed the most heinous form of treason known in the military. He has violated his oath of office with extreme prejudice. In civilian terms this is akin to a mother or father killing their own children – or (in a bizarre coincidence) a doctor killing his patients. The death toll now stands at 13 dead and 30 wounded and this at the bloody hand of a man who had never been in combat and was an expert at helping those suffering from the ghosts of war.

His vicious and deliberate act of violence was of the most cowardly sort also, as soldiers are unarmed on Post, unless they are military police. He was like a man with a club in pen full of baby seals.

As a Vietnam Veteran, I personally would like to strangle this fellow with my bare hands.

Take note that I have not mentioned his religion, but if I were the Commander in Chief, I would order a mass security clearance reevaluation of every person in our military this day, which has the word(s) Muslim/Islam on their dog tags.

We as a country, especially in our military, cannot give every Muslim serving in the military the simple benefit of the doubt, when we have officers killing their own men as acts of faith. What chance of survival did Major Hasan think he would have at Fort Hood? I’ll answer that one – none. He saw himself as a suicide bomber or an IED. He was going for the 70 virgins…, but he survived.

Nope, we need to pull in every soldier, Marine, airman, sailor, etc (especially those serving in our Embassy’s) who has the word(s) Muslim/Islam on their dog tags and under the UCMJ, make them re-swear allegiance and fidelity to this country or resign their commission or general discharge their butts out of the service.

Bert, thank you for your service to our country, and that of your son's. Most thoughtful Americans want to see a return to "God and County," our Constitution, and clear thinking on the part of our government officials. Will it happen? Only if we keep letting or representatives know what we think. And definitely I believe that our military needs to take a second look at who's in it. The guy apparently used the military to get an education, etc. - and a photograph of him on the news this morning, in the very place where he shot all those people, he was shown in his Muslim garb -- easy hiding place for the weapons he had, if you ask me. Why was he not in uniform?! TWB

Well done, Bert. thanks, too, for your service to our great nation. i was turned down just after getting out of high school because of crooked fingers, if you can believe that. me and two of my buddies were going to join air force. i was crushed. it was peacetime and they were turning people down right and left. but God has a plan for us all. JF

"I concur completely with your article. This first thing that popped in my head last night when I found out he was still alive was, oh oh...not the Libs will try to be pulling this out of the Army's jurisdiction and placing him on trial in a civilian court. Watch and see if that don't happen." TH USAF

If he survives, he'll most likely be convicted and sentenced to death before a firing squad. Hasn't happened in recent history...he'll become a martyr to the Mussies AND the Libs who'll cry of his mistreatment and cruel sentence. It'll be a media circus.... .....unless he falls down a flight of stairs several times until his murdering neck snaps... JH

Calm down people. Since Christians are responsible for most intentional fratricide in the military, I guess we should reevaluate them too! But really, crazy people come from every religion. Getting mad at a particular religion for one crazy person will just end up getting a lot of good people who happen to be Muslims or Christians who happen to have middle eastern names harassed for no good reason. If you want to be mad at Muslims, be mad at Al-Qaeda.

Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee panel that handles military readiness, says the Army needs to “conduct a good, good background check on these people.”

“We need to ask, before these people become officers or are accepted into specialty schools like medical doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists, about their commitment to our nation,” Ortiz said.